The Cowen years - More needed in these days of instability

TWO years ago, when Brian Cowen became Taoiseach, he enjoyed the goodwill if not the support of more people than he might ever have imagined. More than he might ever enjoy again.

This was little enough to do with him or his party but a gnawing feeling in the pit of the stomach told us that we were facing an exceptional time and that we needed exceptional leadership. We knew, or tell ourselves today that we knew, that things would indeed get “boomier” but not in the way Bertie Ahern imagined.

Ireland was ready to embrace Mr Cowen’s premiership and personality with optimistic resignation. We were assured that he represented change and promise. We were promised a new reforming force and, most of all, a break with a stale and compromised culture.

So, where did it all go wrong?

Mr Cowen’s inner circle assured us that he was just the man for the moment. He had the intellect, the energy, the vision and most of all the focus needed to confront the country’s problems. He was, as his successor in finance Brian Lenihan acknowledged, picking up the reins at a particularly grim moment.

Even his time as finance minister, even his deep hands-on involvement in creating some of the conditions that led to Ireland’s economic implosion, could not have prepared him for the tsunami that would wash over his term as Taoiseach. He faces challenges greater than any of his immediate predecessors. It is equally fair to say that his reluctance to accept that some of the destructive policies he advanced while in finance made a considerable contribution to our difficulties has undermined his popularity and his credibility.

As he watches Greece stagger towards the abyss he awaits the public sector unions’ decision on the Croke Park deal and must fear that a rejection will take us a step closer to the kind of chaos seen in Athens this week. As the rest of us watch the situation unfold, where the very survival of the euro or a single-tier EU is being questioned, we can’t but wonder if Mr Cowen would have the leadership skills needed in such a catastrophic situation. If he has, he has, so far, very successfully hidden them.

The unfortunate reality is that Mr Cowen’s premiership has been grey, stultifying and exasperating. He has allowed privilege be protected – higher civil servants, judges, bankers and regulators – while the vast majority of ordinary people face reduced circumstances. He has, like it or not, been an impediment to equity.

Politics is a hard and unforgiving game with no room for wishful thinking. It, and the pragmatism it demands, takes an exceptional toll on individuals and their families and, in this context, Mr Cowen is no exception. But that does not excuse the fact that his inability to communicate any sort of vision or possibility too often verges on the boorish. It certainly is not his intention to be boorish but it is, far too often, how he seems.

His incredible conservatism, seen at its very worst in the regressive Cabinet reshuffle, borders on stasis. He has become the Joe Frazier of Irish politics. Dogged, dour, determined, limited and patient. He will only win if he wears down his opponent or if his opponent makes a mistake. Right now we need so much more.

If Mr Cowen has more to offer, the time is at hand. If not, the time is at hand too.